The following is a list of recordings by great improvisers who chose to collaborate in duo settings, often with one chord instrument (bass, guitar or piano) combined with a melody instrument (trumpet, voice, saxophone). Other duos combine two chord instruments – bass and guitar, or bass and piano. All of them are demonstrations of how great players can play an accompanying role with their instruments to the extent that traditional rhythmic accompaniment – drums or percussion – is not necessary. Duo playing is not just a specialty of virtuosic players, however; it is an essential skill for all jazz players, as it is a very typical situation in which working players find themselves, sometimes due to financial and space constraints of music venues, but also through artistic choice by performers who want to challenge themselves in a ‘less is more’ setting. I encourage you to listen to these recordings, and also to add comments mentioning great duo recordings in any style that you think should be added to this list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vocal \/ guitar duo <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ella\nFitzgerald (voice) \/ Joe Pass (guitar) – Take Love Easy<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Piano \/ guitar duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill\nEvans \/ Jim Hall – Undercurrent<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fred Hersch (piano) \/ Bill Frisell (guitar) – Songs We Know<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Piano\/vibes duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gary Burton \/ Chick Corea – Crystal Silence<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bass \/ trumpet duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clark\nTerry (trumpet) \/ Red Mitchell (bass) – To Duke And Basie<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenor saxophone \/ guitar duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zoot Sims (tenor saxophone) \/ Joe Pass (guitar) – Blues For\nTwo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blues\nfor Two<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dindi<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pennies\nFrom Heaven<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Take Off<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Vocal \/ bass duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sheila\nJordan \/ Cameron Brown – I’ve Grown Accustomed to The Bass<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Piano \/ bass duo <\/p>\n\n\n\n Duke Ellington \/\nRay Brown – This One’s for Blanton<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlie\nHaden (bass) \/ Kenny Barron (piano) – Night and The City<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave\nHolland (bass) \/ Kenny Barron (piano) – The Art of Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Michel\nPetrucciani \/ Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen – Live<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenny\nDrew \/ NHOP – Duo Live In Concert<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hank\nJones \/ Red Mitchell – duo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cedar\nWalton \/ David Williams – duo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenny\nBarron \/ Buster Williams – Two As One<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fred\nHersch \/ Matt Kendrick – Other Aspects<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Guitar \/ bass duo <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim\nHall \/ Ron Carter – Alone Together<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trumpet \/ piano duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weather\nBird – Louis Armstrong \/ Earl Hines<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oscar\nPeterson and Dizzy Gillespie<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oscar\nPeterson (organ) and Roy Eldridge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Saxophone \/ bass duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Archie\nShepp and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen – Looking at Bird<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Saxophone \/ piano duo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenny\nBarron \/ Stan Getz – People Time<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Frank\nMorgan – You Must Believe In Spring<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n (alto sax\/piano duets with Roland Hanna, Hank Jones, Barry\nHarris, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Barron)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many great examples of various duet formats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversations\nwith Christian<\/a> (bassist Christian McBride with many duo collaborators)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The following is a list of recordings by great improvisers who chose to collaborate in duo settings, often with one chord instrument (bass, guitar or piano) combined with a melody instrument (trumpet, voice, saxophone). Other duos combine two chord instruments … Continue reading